Race, ethnic lines less visible as L.A. picks mayor

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti. The race is shaping up as a round of chair shuffling at City Hall. At a time the city is mired in financial crisis and shackled with huge pension and health care bills, the leading candidates are all political careerists deeply entrenched in a bureaucracy often criticized as resistant to change. NICK UT, AP

LOS ANGELES – The election that made Antonio Villaraigosa the city's first Hispanic mayor since 1872 confirmed the clout of a fast-growing Latino population and turned the former barrio tough into one of the most visible Hispanic politicians in America.

Eight years later, with the historic barrier to the mayoralty erased, issues of race and ethnicity have been mostly muted in the contest to succeed him. The cries of "Si, se puede," Spanish for "Yes, we can," that followed Villaraigosa's 2005 campaign are long gone, and there is no Hispanic standard-bearer among the five candidates who want his job.

The city could elect its first woman mayor this year, its first Jewish one, or the first openly gay one. But more prosaic issues have dominated — 10.2 percent unemployment, a proposed sales tax jump, the grip of municipal unions, troubled schools.

"These things become firsts, and then they become the standard and the norm," said former California Assembly speaker and one-time mayoral candidate Robert Hertzberg, who compared Villaraigosa's victory to the breakthrough election a generation earlier of Tom Bradley, the city's first and only black mayor. "The pendulum swings."

Retiree Tony Zapata, a longtime resident of the heavily Hispanic area where Villaraigosa went to high school, voted for the mayor and said the neighborhood took pride in the success of one of its own.

But the bond frayed. Zapata said his feelings soured after the mayor three times snubbed invitations from local veterans who wanted him to attend events.

This time he's backing City Councilman Eric Garcetti, because he's impressed with development in Garcetti's district, not his Hispanic family ties.

A candidate's race or ethnicity "is not a concern with me," said Zapata, 68, a tall, square-shouldered Vietnam veteran. After Villaraigosa became mayor "we never saw him again."

The nonpartisan primary March 5 takes place with the nation's second-largest city at a fitful juncture.

There are bright spots. Crime is low, new lofts and restaurants have lured young professionals to the long-neglected downtown, and a transit-building boomlet aims to one day get more drivers off the clotted freeways.

But a comeback from the recession has been slow, rising pension and health care costs for government retirees threatens money needed to plug potholes and trim trees, and school dropout rates and housing costs remain alarmingly high.

"The city's ability to provide services that improve the quality of life of city residents has diminished," Administrative Officer Miguel Santana wrote bluntly in a report this month.

Angelenos appear ready to turn to a workaday manager after years of Villaraigosa's high-energy if sometimes unsteady style, and distracting headlines about his romantic endeavors and celebrity pals. The Democrat and former legislator has kept a distance from the campaign to replace him.

After Villaraigosa's election "there were predictions that it would be a long time before we had another white mayor," said Franklin Gilliam, Jr., dean of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles. But Villaraigosa "has not, or has not been able to, anoint an heir apparent" within the Hispanic community.

Scant turnout is expected. Most residents could probably name more Oscar nominees than candidates on the ballot.

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti. The race is shaping up as a round of chair shuffling at City Hall. At a time the city is mired in financial crisis and shackled with huge pension and health care bills, the leading candidates are all political careerists deeply entrenched in a bureaucracy often criticized as resistant to change. NICK UT, AP
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Kevin James speaking to media in Los Angeles. The race is shaping up as a round of chair shuffling at City Hall. At a time the city is mired in financial crisis and shackled with huge pension and health care bills, the leading candidates are all political careerists deeply entrenched in a bureaucracy often criticized as resistant to change. NICK UT, AP
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Jan Perry. The race is shaping up as a round of chair shuffling at City Hall. At a time the city is mired in financial crisis and shackled with huge pension and health care bills, the leading candidates are all political careerists deeply entrenched in a bureaucracy often criticized as resistant to change. AP
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel. The race is shaping up as a round of chair shuffling at City Hall. At a time the city is mired in financial crisis and shackled with huge pension and health care bills, the leading candidates are all political careerists deeply entrenched in a bureaucracy often criticized as resistant to change. AP

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